Liamson



(No Model.)

B. H, WILLIAMSON. MECHANICAL STOKER.

No. 476,848. Patented June 14,1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD HARLEY IVILLIAMSON, OF ASHTON, ENGLAND.

MECHANICAL STOKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 476,848, dated June 14, 1892. 7

pplication filed September 29,1891. Serial No. 407,129. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RICHARD HARLEY WVIL- LIAMSON, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and a resident of Ash tonunder-Lyne, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented a certain Improved Mechanical Stoker, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to an improved apparatus for automatically su pplyi n g coal to the furnaces of steam-boilers.

The accompanying drawing, which is partly in section, illustrates the construction of the said apparatus and its application to one of the furnaces of an ordinary Cornish boiler.

to is the coal bunker or hopper. Immediately thereunder is a chute or spout b, preferably of sheet-iron.

At Z) the chute is attached to a convenient fixed support. The mode of attachment may be by means of a hinge; but I prefer to form this part of the chute of comparatively-thin sheet-iron and to bolt or rivet it to the fixed support. An elastic or yielding joint is thus obtained, which permits the chute to vibrate up and down.

is a cam, on which the under surface of the chute rests in such a manner that as the cam c rotates the chute will be struck by the leaves of the cam and be caused to vibrate, and the coal which falls from the hopper into the chute will be shaken out onto the Archimedean screwd. coal'is carried upward along the tube 61 into the box 6 and forced through the aperture 6' therein into the furnace, where it will spread itself out among the burning fuel.

The apparatus is intended to work continuously, and in order to regulate the gradual supply of fuel to correspond to the rate of combustion in the furnace I provide a rod f, attached by a flexible connectionsuch as a chain at f to the chute b. The upper end of the rod f is screwed and passes through a nut in the boss of thehand-Wheel f By turning the hand-wl1eelf the chute b may be raised, so as only to just touch the leaves of the cam 0, when the vibration will be very slight and very little coal will be shaken out, or it. may be lowered so far that each blow of the leaves of the cam will impart considerable vibration to the chute, and hence more coal will be dis- By the rotation of the latter the charged onto the screw d. At the place of contact between the under side of the chute b and the cam c detachable plates may be provided, which may be readily replaced when worn out by the action of the cam c. 7

For actuating the apparatus I prefer to use the gearing indicated chiefly by dotted lines in the drawingnamely, a pulley 7t, driven by a cord or belt 7t, imparts rotary motion to the spur-wheel 73, mounted on the same shaft. Into the spur-wheel k is geared the spurwheel 75 which drives the shaft 0', on which the cam c is mounted. From the spur-wheel 71; on the cam-shaft c is driven the spurwheel 75, keyed on the same shaft as the bevelwheel k, which in turn drives the bevel-wheel k Archimedean screw (Z. The whole of the gearing is mounted in a suitable frame-work m.

In order to close the aperture e, and thus prevent ingress of air during a temporary stoppage-as, for instance, at meal times-the bottom 0 of the box 6 is hinged at 6 and by depressing the handle 6 (pivoted at 6 the bottom e maybe raised. A bolt-catch or other similar device is provided for keeping down the handle 6 as will be well understood without further description.

The gradual and continuous supply of coal to the furnace and its distribution among the burning fuel by the hereinbefore described apparatus without the necessity of opening the furnace-doors is attended by a diminished consumption of fuel, and at the same time the production of smoke is almost entirely prevented.

The details of the apparatus and the relative proportions and arrangements of the parts thereof may be varied to suit different types of boilers and local circumstances without departing from its characteristic features. To protect the part of the apparatus in the furnace from the action of the heat, fire-bricks maybe inserted in suitable recesses, as shown at 6 hat I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a mechanical stoker, the combination, with the hopper a, of the chute b, rigidly fixed at b, the adjusting devices f, f, and f for said chute, the cylinder (1 the conveyingscrew (Z, mounted therein, the gear driven The latter is secured to the shaft (1' of the by chain 7c and meshing with gear I), mounted on shaft 0, the cam 0, also mounted on said shaft and vibrating said rigidly -attached chute, gearing between the said shaft and the screW-conveyer, and a door 6 pivoted at e and operated by lever 6 pivoted at e to close the discharge of said cylinder 61 into the furnace, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

RTCHARD HARLEY WILLIAMSON. Witnesses:

E. T. WHITELOW, J OHN HALL,

Both of 70 Deansgate, M anohesteo". 

